Rosie Applications Inc., a student-founded leader in online and mobile predictive shopping applications for the retail sector, was named the winner of the first Startup Labs Syracuse accelerator program. Rosie will receive a $150,000 cash prize and a $50,000 suite of marketing and branding services provided by Eric Mower + Associates. The capital will be used to accelerate growth, supplement the technology and marketing team, engage additional retail partners, and strengthen the firm’s market position.

“Rosie is a revolutionary and magical product that will save customers time, money, and stress by predicting the household items they need before they run out, at the lowest price from local grocers and online retailers,” said Nick Nickitas, Rosie's CEO. “Predictive shopping continues to prove its potential as a game-changer, and Team Rosie is proud to be advancing this innovative technology."

The 2013 Startup Labs field of competition included entries from competitors across New York State. The field was initially narrowed from more than 100 applicants to 5 finalists. After an intensive three -week program that pushed each of the companies to engage customers, obtain market validation, demonstrate a compelling product, and prove their ability to execute, Rosie was awarded top honors.

The company was co-founded in 2012 by Nickitas, who is currently earning his MBA from the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Rosie is an eLab company, Cornell’s prestigious and highly competitive incubator, whose mission is to accelerate the development of Cornell’s top startups. Rosie saves customers stress by predicting the household items they need, before they run out, and ordering them from local grocers and online retailers. It provides a simple, intuitive interface to allow consumers to purchase their groceries, restock their favorite items, find the lowest prices, and seamlessly send the order to a local store or online retailer for in-store pickup or delivery. Rosie is also building tools to help retailers compete more effectively, leveraging lessons from big data, predictive algorithms, machine learning, and the financial services industry.

“Our aspiration with Rosie was to show that big data and predictive analytics can truly deliver a faster, smarter, and more convenient experience than any existing e-tail platform, which is a critical step towards the widespread adoption of predictive shopping applications,” said Nickitas. "Traction from retailers and customers enabled us to win Startup Labs Syracuse and secure financing that will be invested in our team and technology to accelerate our time to market."

Prior to winning the StartUp Labs Syracuse competition, Advertising Age magazine asked Rosie to be a featured company in the 2013 Ad Age Digital Conference, on April 16 and April 17, 2013, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. Rosie’s CEO Nick Nickitas will be presenting as part of a Startup Watch segment. He will provide a video overview of the company and share insights learned from Rosie's customer and product development experiences.